Class Project Unites Generations, Forms Unique
Friendships

Lexington, Ky. – November, 2008
–

For Caroline Kelly, going to a nursing home
is not a routine activity. After meeting
Arnold Joseph, however, it is an activity she plans
to continue.

Kelly is a sophomore in
the College of Health Sciences where she plans to
major in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Joseph is a resident at the Thomson-Hood Veterans
Center. This unlikely duo was brought together
an assignment in one of Kelly’s classes.

The Introduction to
Communication Sciences and Disorders course
instructed by Dr. Robert C. Marshall, requires
students like Kelly to design and participate in a
variety of activities to further their understanding
of health care issues concerning the elderly.

Specifically, the program
that Dr. Marshall developed, called UK Connect:
Operation Elder Outreach, helps students learn
more about elderly individuals with speech,
language, hearing and swallowing problems through
personal contact.

The students are put into
one-on-one situations with nursing home residents.
Nurses, activity directors, social workers and other
staff members choose the elderly candidates for
visitations and each of Dr. Marshall’s students are
required to visit their assigned resident a total of
four times.

“Scheduling each visit
gives the recipient an event to anticipate and look
forward to,” said Dr. Marshall. “Students are
encouraged to learn as much as possible about their
senior partners, to make observations about how
aging might have affected their communication, and
to engage seniors in activities of interest to
them.”

In Kelly’s case, she was
able to learn about her 87 year old resident’s
extraordinary past during her visits.

Joseph’s strong ties to
WWII brought the duo closer together. In 1935,
Arnold Joseph became a Jewish immigrant after his
family sent him to live in the United States. The
rest of Joseph’s immediate family stayed in Germany
and tragically his mother, father and sister were
all victims of the Holocaust.

The students are not only
expected to visit and share stories with the
residents, they are also required to develop a
visitation log to document any activities the
students plan for the residents.

“This log reflects the
unbelievable creativity and great compassion the
students have in choosing activities to do and
issues to discuss with senior partners,” said Dr.
Marshall.

For instance, Arnold
teaches German words to Caroline and reviews her
term papers. Those teaching experiences are
activities that Caroline would log.

Operation Elder Outreach
resulted in over 300 scheduled student visits to
senior citizens in Kentucky nursing homes during
this past year. The project is a part
the student’s service learning goal that the College
of Health Sciences mandates and makes a major part
of its curriculum. The reason for the mandate is
that service learning links students in higher
education and their respective intuitions to the
community.

“This program is an
overwhelming success because students and seniors
appear to truly enjoy the experience,” said Dr.
Marshall. He plans to repeat the project next year
and for many more to come.

“I admit I was nervous
about the visit at first because I have never been
comfortable in nursing homes, but now I realize that
this experience gives me an opportunity to work with
people that are different than me,” said Caroline.
“That is what absolutely makes me love my
involvement in the project and why I plan on
visiting Arnold even when it is no longer a
requirement.”

Arnold Joseph, left, and Caroline Kelly, right, formed a unique
friendship through a class project of Kelly's called UK Connect:
Operation Elder Outreach. Kelly is a student in the Communication
Sciences and Disorders program and Joseph is a resident at the
Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore, KY.